


Promises Of The Past

by HiMiTSu



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, kid!Lex, teenage!Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6785728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiMiTSu/pseuds/HiMiTSu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a tumblr promt from marriedtojbiebs: "I have this headcanon that Bruce and Lex, being billionaire babies, probably grew up friends from going to their rich parents' events and such, with Lex being quiet and well-behaved and on edge, just sitting in the corner with Bruce and talking with him. Would you please write a fic with babby!Bruce and Lex at an event, maybe Lex is feeling fragile bc his dad smacked him around, and Bruce comforts him and they just chat and sit together?"</p><p>I had to switch it a little though. Since Bruce is at least a decade older than Lex in BVS, he is more of a teenager here, Lex is still a child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promises Of The Past

The party was in the full swing and Bruce couldn’t take it anymore. All those stupid people, condescending and patronizing, and still so careful with their words. They did not believe he could run Wayne Enterprises but acted cautious anyway. He did have some weight in the company and he was hell bent on using all the power he had to protect his father’s legacy. He would show them that he was a true heir to his name.

Bruce made many rounds around the ball room of the manor, talking to executives and dancing with their wives. They all said he was still so young but already terribly charming. Bruce, a polite smile plastered to his face, accepted the compliments gracefully.  Alfred schooled him well, sent him out to this party and then just disappeared behind a curtain to take over the hired staff. He did not have to wear a stuffy suit and entertain the guests he despised.

After a couple hours of ‘mingling’, as Alfred called it, Bruce was ready to throw all his guests out. Instead, he just slipped out of the main hall and hid in the coat closet. Alfred would have been proud.

To his credit, it was a big coat closet – a huge coatroom actually. Which, Bruce realized, as he stepped further inside, was already occupied. Soft wet sniffles could be heard from behind a massive fur coat and he moved in cautiously and pushed the heavy fabrics aside.

“Hello,” Bruce’s voice was soft as not to scare the other person.

Blue eyes, wide and red rimmed stared back at him from within a mess of red curls. It was a small boy, sitting with his back to the wall, hands clasped around bent knees. A tailored suit was rumpled and an edge of his long plaid shorts torn. The boy sniffled and wiped furiously at his eyes to chase away the tears.

“You are Lex, right?” Bruce asked cautiously. He could vaguely recollect a small child running around the Lex Luthor mansion, a red haired boy who was happy and animated with his mother but instantly turned shy and cautious in the presence of his father. He was too little for Bruce to consider him a playmate at that time, but they were inevitably left together when Bruce’s parents visited the Luthors. Bruce never liked the head of the house and he always saw the animosity in his father’s eyes, but politics called for them to be allies on the international market.

Lex Junior was always a little stuck up, but as little Bruce once decided, that’s what you get with a father like that. He never much liked the little Lex either.

But at that moment, looking down at him, curled into a tight ball and fighting back tears, all Bruce felt was pity. He settled down by the boy’s side.

“What happened?” Bruce gave him a moment to compose himself, looking straight ahead and pretending he didn’t see Lex wipe the remaining tears from his face.

“Nothing.” The boy replied sulkily.

“That’s why you are hiding out in the coat room?”

“Why are _you_ hiding in the coat room?” Lex fired back instantly.

It was a fair question though, so Bruce replied with a shrug, “I got tired. So many people to talk to.”

“I don’t like people.” Lex replied with a pout.

His cheeks were all red from the many times he scrubbed them with his palms, probably willing himself to stop crying, and his small hands were balled into fists at his sides.

“I like people alright,” Bruce said conversationally. “I don’t like _these_ guys though.” He waved his hand in the general direction of the ballroom. “They are so boring.”

“Yeah,” Lex agreed hesitantly after a long pause. “They are the worst.”

Bruce let the silence hang, enjoying the quiet of the coatroom, relaxed for the first time that evening. Lex was silent at his side, picking at a loose thread at the hem of his shorts.

“Where did you get a tear like that?” Bruce asked, nodding at the gash in fabric on his left leg.

Lex’s hand flew to cover the gap instantly and his breathing picked up as fresh tears threatened to spill.

“Sorry.” Bruce amended instantly, worried. “Don’t answer if you don’t want to.”

He could see the boy close his eyes tightly, and still a couple of teardrops escaped from his pale lashes. Bruce was lost in the face of such clear distress.

“I slipped,” Lex confessed, eyes still closed. There was fear in his shaky voice as if he was confessing to some horrible deed. “The floor in the ballroom is so slippery.”

“Yeah, it really is.” Bruce replied encouragingly, when the boy grew silent again.

Lex nodded furiously and, obviously feeling bolder now that he saw an ally in Bruce, continued. “I wasn’t even running. I just…,” he looked down in shame. “Alright, I was running just little though. Don’t tell my dad.” He added in a fast whisper, big scared eyes pleading with Bruce.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Lex narrowed his eyes, suspicious gaze intent on Bruce’s face; after a moment he decided the older boy could be believed and nodded. “Mrs. Hamilton was trying to pinch my cheeks. She does it every time,” he complained. “And it’s horrible.” He put an emphasis on the last word and, for a good measure, repeated. “Horrible.” Brice chuckled as the boy pretended to shiver from disgust.

“That would warrant running away.”

“Exactly.” Lex exclaimed happily, but his expression turned sour quick. “Father is always angry when he catches me running around the house.”

“Is this why you were…upset?” Bruce ventured tentatively.

Lex nodded mutely and tugged on a tear in his shorts again. That’s when Bruce noticed his bruised knee. “Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

“It’s fine.” Lex brushed it off. He lifted the hem a little and Bruce could see it looked worse than just a scrape. “It doesn’t hurt that bad. Not as much as…”

“As much as what?” Bruce frowned. He was starting to have a bad feeling about this. Luthor Senior always unsettled him, the man gave off a menacing aura but before that moment, Bruce never worried about how it affected people around him. He had to choose his next words carefully. “Did someone hurt you at home?”

Lex stared forward sullenly.

This was a completely unfamiliar territory, every word felt like a step on a thin ice; the only thing Bruce knew for sure was that he wanted to help. How though was a more difficult question. Alfred would have known how to act, but Alfred wasn’t around so he tried again. “You can tell me. Trust me.”

The boy’s head turned so quickly Bruce was worried he’d have a whiplash. He didn’t have the time to make the joke though as Lex asked harshly.

“Why would I trust you?”

Bruce was lost.

Lex tilted his head to the side and red hair fell into his eyes, half-obscuring the boy’s suddenly hard gaze. “I don’t know you. Why would I trust you?” His tone was unexpectedly cold and didn’t match his still childishly soft features. A face so young but with eyes darkened by life already.

“Because I want to help you.” Bruce reasoned. To him, this seemed like a good argument. Lex however shook his head.

“Why should I trust _that_?” He asked. Calculation was his main point; maybe his main defense. “You’ve never tried helping me before.”

“It’s…”

“No one have.” Lex admitted suddenly. The strangest thing – he didn’t sound pitiful at all. It was just a statement, a truth he realized for himself. It was sad to Bruce but to the boy it had already become his norm. Bruce felt fear building up in the pit of his stomach.

“What if I want to help you know?”

The boy narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because I’m a…decent person?” Bruce didn’t dare say ‘good’. Was it because he knew Lex wouldn’t believe or did he not believe in that himself – but that was question for another time.

“Decent is a ridiculous word.” Lex threw back; he sounded so childish in that moment, Bruce wasn’t sure what to make of that. His mood was switching too rapidly.

“Have you known anyone who was decent?” Bruce tried asking.

Lex shook his head. “I knew someone who was good. But she didn’t stay long.”

Bruce’s mind instantly painted the picture of Mrs. Luthor: she seemed lovely, but she died when Lex was very young. “Yeah, I understand that.” Bruce admitted.

Lex accepted the shared moment with a nod, but his mind couldn’t stay on one subject for long. “Dad is not decent.” He announced. His hands balled into fists so tight his knuckles turned white. “It’s alright though…He has a power over me. I can wait until it ends.”

How long would that take, Bruce wondered with horror. Lex was so small still, who knew what could happen to him before he comes of age.

“No.” Bruce said with resolution. “I’ll help you.”

“Really?” Lex asked with suspicion.

Bruce nodded and, finally, Lex smiled, it was tentative but sweet – a simple smile of child. “Alright.”

Bruce smiled back, feeling lighter.

* * *

 

But soon Bruce’s life was bound to change. He found a new way in life, a new goal. He became something else – shred his old skin in the process and with that he forgot his old promise.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Important: Please understand I’m not making Bruce a bad guy here! It’s essential that everyone who reads this understands what I’m actually trying to say in the end.


End file.
